The first light entered the room at sunrise, which was when Yuki woke up, fully motivated to start the day. As she climbed out of the bed and changed clothes, she noticed Iky who was curled up next to Yamato on the edge of the bed frame. Carefully picking him up, as to not disturb Yamato, though based on his words yesterday, he would wake up soon anyway since Yuki got up, which apparently he could tell even in sleep. This made her really happy, actually. Maybe he was just very aware in general, however she felt like it would not be too far fetched to say it had something to do with the bond they shared. However the on that following delusions of mutual obsession and possession were far less reasonable.
Closing the bedroom door behind her, she thought about preparing breakfast, though she could not tell when they would wake up. Not that she cared particularly much when Lucy woke up, though Yamato would scold her if she only prepared something for him. Not wanting to serve him cold food, she decided to just wait until they had woken up with that and instead take a look outside.
"Come to think of it… You can walk on your own…"
She said as shy dropped Iky to the ground, who landed silently on all fours, looking uo at her expectantly. Even though she spent a lot of time getting him to like her and listen to her commands, she still had not an ounce of empathy for him. It appears the only time well spent was time spent with Yamato for her. Opening the door, expecting to see the field of grass and flowers that had been there yesterday, what she saw instead was only partially that. Large parts of the field were covered in blood and had burned spots on the ground, holes in the ground and what not.
"…Did you do that, Iky?"
He just titled his head and licked over his nose, only to crawl through the grass towards what from this distance appeared to be a metallic object.
"Hm? Oh, a helmet… Can't remember that being here yesterday… Oh, well whatever. What else do we have here? Ooh, a sword!"
She went over to the fencing sword stuck in the ground, though after a closer inspection it appeared to be broken in half.
"Hmm… That's a fine sword right here! Or was… A sword and helmet… Looks like someone's been here. Detective Yuki will reconstruct this in no time! Ahem… Witness and suspect number one! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
She yelled dramatically as she turned arond and pointed her finger at Iky accusingly. Needless to say, he had nothing to say in his defense. Very suspicious indeed.
"I see… Silence, as it is your right, of course… However it is all clear as day now! I hereby deduce that you must be guilty… Of murder! Dun dun dun! But wait…! If I recall correctly… I was the one who ordered you to do that! Which means… You are but a puppet in a much larger scheme. And the puppeteer is none other than I! What a twist. I'm gonna tell my awesome script to Master later. He's gonna be all, "What?! I totally didn't see that coming! It was you all along?? Brilliant! Let's make out as long as Lucy is gone for whatever reason!"… Or something very similar to that! But whatever happens here probably doesn't even affect us. We're gonna be leaving today anyway. So maybe he will not be as invested as I would hope for… Eh, no way. It's not about the story but instead about the storyteller's chest size, after all!"
She turned around to go back into the house, seemingly proud of her questionable logic and chest size. But then she stepped on something on the way. Only the sound of glas cracking could be heard as she decided she did not care enough about it to take a look.
Meanwhile, in a small town about a day away from where Yuki created the house, there was a small church. A church located in the center of the city. However the church was corrupt, supporting a corrupt baron who cared nothing for his people, only raising taxes for his own benefit and to donate to the church every now and then for the exchange of mutually beneficial favors. Such favors include the church supporting his laws and decisions, while the church was left to act as they seemed fit, having to act according to the law themselves. Members would commit crimes without shame with no consequences whatsoever. Despite knowing the injustice which housed freely in this town, a sincere and righteous man, who wanted to become a hero to the world, chose to start his heroic deeds in this exact town. Maybe it was exactly because this town seemed as though nothing could save it, that he tried to do his best. His mother had sadle passed away last year, and with her his last family member in this world. But he would never let that stop him from doing good, no. He wore a pocket watch attached to a chain around his neck, which had a hand drew picture of his mother as a background behind the glas. Though he wore a scary looking, heavy armor and a big sword, he was known for his kindness and selflessness. But alone, he knew he had no chance as he was merely Pathfinder of the 5th Grade. Which of course did not mean he was still going to school, but showed his over all rank in a system designed to categorize the overall strength of a Pathfinder, which was the term used to describe people who used magic and special abilities to fight monsters for a living, or offer their services as mercenary. OTL (Official Threat Level) was a term often used to rank different Pathfinders in strength, for example one might ask what your OTL was, expecting you to respond with 4th or 7th or whatever Grade. However Yamato and the others would learn more about that in more detail soon enough. So the knight brought his best friends with him, Natalie the mage, who was known for her quick thinking and love of nature and Jake the duelist, who was known for his honor and honesty, not to forget his unique fencing sword style and weapon. Both were Pathfinders of the 7th Grade.
But the town was not exactly inviting, as the people hs suffered for generations under the rule of the barons family. So their first step was to gain the trust of the people. Soon enough, they heard of a problem with a trade route, which caused an increase in prices for food and medicine supplies. Apparently, said problem came from unknown entities attacking the traders on a essential road that led to a town near the ocean, from which almost all the imported goods of the continent came from. With a clear target in mind, they went on their way to fight the danger, which they assumed to be monsters.
They arrived when it was already dark, at the edge of a small forest which they believed was where the creatures originated from, based on mana traces which Natalie was able to find leading deeper into the forest. Though they could have waited until it was day, the knight was confident that they could find them even in total darkness, and be trusted his friends with his life, so he would not back down if they believed them to be up to the task. Upon entering the forest, Natalie immediately felt uneasy though she could not quite make out what it was yet. Asked and answered, a black cloud like fog darted at them faster than she could react. In the last moment, the knight was able to cut through the fog with his sword, which disappeared into thin air and left a rotten, cut in half corpse behind. Pushing deeper into the forest, more and more fog creatures attacked them, though together they were able to fend off al the incoming attacks with no problems at all. Even a Pathfinder of the 10th Grade could have handled them, which however hopefully would not impact how grateful the town would be, considering they were doing it for free.
After they went deep into the forest, they heard a river, which they wanted to rest at for a moment. However as they went there, they saw a house, on an open field next to the river a bit downstream. Though it was already late, they decided unanimously to go check it out.
As they got closer they noticed it was suspiciously quiet. There had also not been a single attack from the fog creatures since they got closer to the house, which was as they now noticed, in an odd position. Apart from being in the middle of nowhere, foundation wise there would have been better spots for a house. It was also in perfect condition, which only made it seem more unnatural. As they got in a roughly 20 meter radius of the house, they suddenly stopped as they noticed grass move in front of them. Though all immediately went into fighting stance, they calmed down just a fast as they noticed it was only a small salamander. It stared at them intensely, as it crawled on top of a stick to get a better look at them from above the grass. Since it only seemed to tilt his head at them, they just went past it. Which was when it crawled in front of them again. Despite a mix of confusion and fascination, they kept going. This time it let out a squeal which they interpreted as just some noise it made. If only they had known it was a warning noise, as in the next second, now only ten meters away from the house, it went and bit Natalie in the leg, at which she let out a quiet pained tone as she kicked it away. Having had enough, it grew about two meters tall in an instant, before walking in front of them again. They jumped back immediately and got into a defensive formation, but it was too late. Natalie just fell to the ground unconsciously, causing the other two to come to her aid, which was exactly when the salamander opened its mouth wide and spit flames as hot as lava at them. Though the knight managed to block them with his sword, it was quickly deformed by the heat, and as it appeared useless, he threw it at the salamander's eye in hopes of distracting it while he grabbed Natalie. Which actually worked somewhat as it stopped spitting fire to catch the sword with his teeth and swallow it whole. Unsure of what to do, the knight grabbed Natalie and picked her up, suggesting retreat. However Jake knew there was no escape for them. At least not for all of them, he said as rushed forward and attacked the salamander from the side. Hoping to turn his attention away. Stabbing at it, its claws defended the first strike though the second hit it directly in the stomach. But it was of no use, the sword did not penetrate the skin. It only broke in half upon impact and landed on the ground. Before he could retreat, Jake was swallowed whole and blood dripped down out of the mouth of the creature that had devoured him. The salamander turned back to the knight, who was about to flee despite protest after seeing Jake wanted to stall time for him and Natalie. Though, after he saw him get devoured only moments after, he stopped and laid Natalie down. Grabbing onto his pocket watch, he asked for the strength to avenge his friend. Who did he ask for help? God? His mother? It was of no concern to the salamander, as no one would come to save the knight that did not even have a weapon anymore. He took off his helmet, which revealed long black hair in front of a exhausted and pained expression, and used it like a glove as he stormed forward and attacked the beast. Using a special ability, the helmet became four times as heavy, which he has usually used on his heavy sword to deal devastating blows, but even now would make the helmet hit like a cannon ball. The first hit landed directly in the face of the salamander and actually pushed it back a bit, which seemed to only make it more aggressive. So it turned around to hit him with its tail at full speed, which he was able to block but it still threw him meters away, meanwhile he also lost his helmet and pocket watch, as it was thrown into the opposite direction of him onto the ground. The salamander now seemed to focus the unconscious Natalie, which laid on the ground while looking pale and sick. The knight noticed it but was too far away to help, but that was when he spotted the staff of Natalie lying in the grass only a few meters away. So he rushed towards it and used it to shoot the strongest spell he knew, which was not that strong since he was not usually casting spells and only knew a few basics. However the fire arrow was just absorbed by the salamanders skin, though it did turn back to the knight and stared deeply into his eyes. The knight met his gaze with no fear, as he stood determined to protect his friend. Meanwhile the salamander just looked at him, while Natalie suddenly was lifted by its tail in front of its head. The knight looked in shock as the salamander opened his mouth wide again while holding eye contact, revealing rows of teeth in the back of its throat which rotated back and forth, which made its mouth like a blender, with a light coming out of his mouth which seemed unnaturally magnetic. Not in the sence of attracting metal, but more in a hypnotic way. The knight slowly walked towards it, even though he saw Natalie slowly being carried towards it as well, he lost all will to fight. The salamander also seemed even bigger now. If he could think straight he could give an estimate, but it was big enough that he could stand in its mouth. Slowly reaching for what seemed to be the gate to heaven, he was splattered with the blood of Natalie who was just before him. He could have reached her, and pulled her out the moment the salamander dropped her with its tail, but he did not. He just kept walking, until he reached the light, which was the end of this night.